[beepboopbeep]

I have a personal theory that we enter into a "crisis" of some sort roughly every 5 years. Essentially 1-2 years of definition/growth/change, 2 years-ish of normalcy post change, 1-2 years of redefinition as things become old and others become new/interesting.

A perpetual cycle of shifting identity as we change internally and externally. I think it's a good thing to have and understand, but can be overwhelming as well.

I have zero evidence of this, it's just kind of based on my own observations. It's helped me to not be so hard on my self though when I find my tastes, interests, and identity changing over time.

[resu_nimda]

I like to think in terms of "cycles" in a similar manner, except that there are multiple overlapping cycles of different periods (some closer to weekly/monthly), all summed together. On any given day you will be in a somewhat unique position. Basically a Fourier transform for your psyche.

[anonymouse008]

You could probably extrapolate the infant, child, adolescent, and adult's growth and development model (with hormone increases and decreases) to find evidence. I think your hunch is pretty cool and spot on for my experience as well. Surely, too, do external events either speed up or slow down some parts - but the core idea of new stage change, stasis, then redefinition could be worth exploring.

[Swizec]

It’s the many lives theory! Taked about 7 years to focus on a thing effectively, leading to roughly 11 lives for most of us.

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2012-09-02

[beepboopbeep]

This is a great perspective on it, thank you! I'll be sending this around to a few folks

[the_cat_kittles]

absolutely. the daily cycle, the weekly cycle, the quarterly cycle, the yearly cycle, and the 5-10 year cycle. i also have nothing but my own anecdotal evidence for this. i think its hard to realize that things that last for several years still do come to an end in many cases, their cycle is just slower. the fact that there isnt a term for the 5-10 year cycle is evidence that we are kinda blind to it.